Little Nut Tree

by Dan Zanes

Overview

Dan Zanes spent much of the early 2000s churning out exciting, theme-based children's records that introduced the younger set to everything from gospel to salsa to sea shanties. On Little Nut Tree, Zanes & Friends go back to the "anything goes" formula, offering up 16 new songs built on a simple foundation of fun, and to top it all off, Little Nut Tree comes packaged in a colorful, durable (little hands make messes) board book. Recorded in Zanes' native Brooklyn (the better to allow a revolving cast of his famous friends to chime in), the album opens with Zanes and Sharon Jones (of the Dap-Kings) waltzing through an amiable version of the Etta James classic "In the Basement." Joan Osborne stops by to lend her pipes to the Zanes original "Everybody's Going to Be Happy," and Andrew Bird does the same, laying down some predictably solid fiddle work and otherworldly whistling to another Zanes-penned tune, "I Don't Need No Sunny Skies." Zanes, resplendent in a pumpkin orange suit and sporting a graying, Lyle Lovett/Kramer-inspired nest of hair, may be an unlikely pied piper, but there's no denying the gleeful ease with which he summons his wee horde. ~ James Christopher Monger

Product Details

Release Date:	09/27/2011
Label:	Festival Five Records / Weatherbox
UPC:	0800495001625
Rank:	117594

Tracks

1. In the Basement
2. Jim Along Josie
3. Summer Trains
4. Wake Up Baby!
5. John Kanakanaka
6. Little Nut Tree
7. I Don¿¿¿t Need Sunny Skies
8. Saro Jane
9. La Siren
10. Everybody¿¿¿s Going to Be Happy
11. The Farmer Is the One
12. Thank You
13. Hill and Gully Rider
14. Red Tail Hawk
15. Salaam
16. Beautiful Isle of Somewhere

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Dan Zanes   Primary Artist,Guitar (12 String),Guitar,Vocals
Sharon Jones   Vocals
Sonia De Los Santos   Vocals
Hattie   Percussion
Gaston "Bonga" Jean-Baptiste   Vocals,Kalimba,Oprenten,Hand Drums,Percussion
Happy Girl   Guitar
Saskia Sunshine Lane   Bass
Elena Moon Park   Fiddle,Vocals,Trumpet
John Foti   Piano,Vocals,Accordion
Alhaji Jeffrey "Black Nature" Kamara   Vocals,Percussion
Ashade Pearce   Guitar,Vocals
Christopher Davies   Drums
Yvette Weaver   Spoons
Christina Jean-Louis   Vocals
Cleo the Queen   Mandolin
Dennis Bakarron   Bass,Vocals
Diana Vasquez   Banjo,Guitar,Spoons,Vocals,Autoharp,Mandolin,Harmonica,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (12 String)
Miss Corrina   Guitar,Tambourine
Rockin' Norah   Guitar
Shawana Kemp   Vocals
The Harmony Project   Orchestra
The Sea Rascals   Vocals
Andrew Bird   Fiddle,Vocals
Simon Kirke   Drums
Kwaku Kwaakye Obeng   Oprenten,Hand Drums
Colin Brooks   Drums
Tareq Abboushi   Buzuq,Vocals
Johnnie   Vocals,Accordion
Rob Friedman   Bass,Organ,Piano,Vocals,Saxophone,Percussion,Pump Organ,Pedal Steel,Organ (Hammond)
Jerry Marotta   Drums,Vocals
Joan Osborne   Vocals
Aggie Decaul   Vocals
Yoshi Waki   Bass,Bass (Upright)
Donald Saaf   Guitar,Vocals,Tenor Banjo
Barbara Brousal   Vocals
George Rush   Tuba

Technical Credits

Sonia De Los Santos   Design
Renford Cogle   Composer
Gaston "Bonga" Jean-Baptiste   Arranger
Gala Narezo   Photography
Elena Moon Park   String Arrangements
Jessie Pounds   Composer
Greg Buyalos   Photography
Joe Olender   Engineer
Moshe Ben Ari   Composer
Stephanie Mayers   Production Coordination
The Sea Rascals   Sounds
Traditional   Composer
Rob Friedman   Mixing,Engineer,Producer,Mastering
Eric Lilavois   Engineer
Donald Saaf   Artwork
Dan Zanes   Arranger,Composer,Producer